Precious moments
by Elivalero
Summary: The blond, grieving detective is putting his personal belongings into a cardboard box ready for his final departure. He's leaving the precinct...For good.


**Many thanks to Rebelcat, wonderful beta-reader and friend, for all the help she's always giving me.**

**This story was written purely for entertainment and is not for profit, and is not meant to trespass in any way on the holders of the rights to Starsky and Hutch.**

**DISCLAIMER: This story is not what it seems. Before you, dear readers start throwing tomatoes at me, read it complete. You'll understand :-) **

**--Precious Moments--**

The blond-haired detective entered the precinct with tired steps, his shoulders slumped under the weight of deep, unbearable sorrow. It was a sorrow that was wholeheartedly shared by all his co-workers in the police station, as it was every time a fellow police officer was killed. But no matter how miserable everyone else felt, none of them could really understand the extent of this man's grief. At that moment he just felt that everything he had ever cared for was gone. Dead and buried, just like his partner.

And he felt alone... so alone.

Just a few days earlier, along with the entire Ninth Precinct, he had paid a last tribute to the man who had been his best friend for years. His partner - killed in the line of duty.

That one had been the day the blond detective had always hoped he'd never had to go through. The day he had always feared with all his mightThe day that finally had come.

The dejected man, carrying a cardboard box, headed to his desk. He placed an item into it. Absentmindedly, he rested his gaze on a pile of files before taking a deep breath and continuing. Rummaging through his drawers produced a few personal belongings. He carefully put these into the carton.

All this while, several pairs of concerned eyes were discreetly following his movements. They all knew what he was doing.

A few days after his partner's death he had submitted his resignation to his superior officer. And now that it had been approved, he was gathering his belongings in order to leave the station for good. Most of the other officers understood very well his reasons for doing so.

He and his partner had been best friends. They had been much closer than most partners in the force. As a matter of fact there was only one other pair of detectives in the whole ninth precinct as tight as these two.

Over the years, almost from the beginning of their partnership, the young detectives had spent a lot of time together. They made plans together. Plans that always involved both of them, from the trivial - like an occasional fishing trip - to the important - like looking for a job that they could both enjoy doing together, if for some reason they found themselves no longer able to patrol the streets as a team.

Now all that was left was just a handful of memories. Sad memories that pierced a growing hole in the grieving soul of the one left behind.

xxxxxxx

For several minutes the blond man was silently engrossed in his task. Soon, everything he wanted to take with him was carefully settled in the cardboard box. It was mostly his own stuff, but also, mingled with it, there were some of his partner's small treasures.

There was a coffee mug with his name on it. A key chain. Even a small, tattered teddy bear a little girl had given the deceased detective as a thank you for helping her rescue her kitten from a tree a few months ago. The memory brought a smile to the man's lips. A smile mixed with the sting of unshed tears.

Then, suddenly, against his will, the unwelcomed memories of the last days returned to haunt the detective. He relived images of his partner, fatally injured by a bullet, bleeding to death on the ground in a dark smelly alley. It was in this alley that he'd closed his eyes for the last time, after saying his final, painful goodbye. The detective also recalled vividly the images of the funeral. His partner's friends and relatives gathered around his coffin, the solemn words of the minister, and even the soft sound of weeping coming from his partner's mother. Her sobs mixed with the sound of the nearby trees, gently waving in the morning breeze. The whispering of the trees seemed to merge with the crying of the heartbroken woman in an eerie symphony…

Forcing himself back into the present, the detective shook his head. He didn't want to go back there. He couldn't allow himself to linger on memories, for his own sanity's sake.

He took a last look at the now impersonal desks in front of him. They were devoid of any traces of the men who had so recently occupied them. All these items and mementos would soon be taken to their new home in the blond's apartment. His last task at the precinct was done. It was time to leave.

"Well, guys. I'm done here," he announced awkwardly, in an attempt to say a not-too-emotional goodbye to the men who had until then been his coworkers.

"Listen, Hu-," one of the plainclothes detectives began to say, getting to his feet.

"No, Jenkins." The blond man cut him off firmly, raising his palm to his colleague. "I've made my mind up. I just can't keep working here. Not without my partner."

"What are you going to do now?" Jenkins asked, with sincere interest.

"Dunno," the other man answered with a shrug. "Most likely I'll go back to my hometown. And eventually I guess I'll end up working in my old man's company."

Two more detectives had just entered the squad room. The dark haired one said, "If you need something, anything, you know where to find us, don't you?" His partner nodded, earnestly.

"Sure, Starsky. I know. And I really appreciate it."

"Look, Hunter..." Hutch placed a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Hunter forlornly shook his head. "No, Hutch. I know what you're going to say, but I can't stay. I just can't. Not without Brody covering my back. It hurts too much. But... I guess you understand me better than anyone else here, don't you?"

Hutch exchanged a meaningful glance with Starsky, who stood silently by his side.

"Yeah... I can," Hutch said, soberly.

"Listen, guys," Hunter addressed Starsky and Hutch. "Want a piece of advice? Enjoy and treasure every single moment you have with your partner, the friend by your side. Don't take any of those precious moments for granted. As I've had to learn the hard way, things can take a nasty turn for the worse at any moment."

His heartfelt words were answered with respectful silence.

"Okay, now I've got to go. "I... I'm gonna miss you all. I mean it," the ex-detective added shyly. He picked up his cardboard box and walked to the glass doors.

A moment later he was gone, and the heavy silence in the squad room was quickly replaced with soft voices and the noise of several typewriters.

"Man... life sucks!" Starsky exclaimed dejectedly, perching on the corner of Hutch's desk. The blond one sat in his chair, sorting through some paperwork.

"Yep, it sure does," Hutch agreed.

Starsky leaned closer to his partner. "Guess what, Blondie," he said in a lower, conspiratorial tone. "I think I'm done here for the day. How about a picnic on the beach? You know, some food, a few beers, maybe even chocolate cake for dessert... my treat."

"A picnic on the beach?" Hutch was taken aback. "You mean... now?"

"Yep. Right now. Listen, Hutch. It isn't that I feel like celebrating or anything," Starsky hastened to say. "But... I dunno. I just think this is the perfect moment to do something silly and fun with my partner. I guess Hunter's words might have something to do with it."

"I know, Starsk. I know exactly what you mean," Hutch fondly assured him. "But if Dobey finds out we've decided to end our shift before noon for no good reason, and then hears that we've been hanging out on the beach instead of doing our work, he's going to bite our heads off."

"You're right, I guess," Starsky conceded. "But right now, I just don't care. Besides, I'm not going to be hanging out. I'm going to be enjoying life for awhile with my best friend."

"Know something, buddy?" Hutch got to his feet, barely restraining himself from wrapping the man across from him in a bear hug. "I think you've got a point there. Right now, I could use some good time with my best friend, too."

"Then it's settled," Starsky said, cheerfully. "A picnic on the beach it is."

Not caring at all what the other men in the squad room might think, Starsky and Hutch wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders before heading for the squad room exit.

Maybe Dobey would find out that, as Starsky put it, they'd 'played hooky' that day, and eventually they knew they'd have to face the music. They couldn't care less. At that moment their thoughts were focused only on Hunter's last words before he'd left.

He'd told them that they just couldn't take each other for granted. So long as they had the chance, both men should enjoy and treasure every single moment they got to spend together.

And that's just what they were going to do.

**The end**


End file.
